By Adebola Williams

 Of course, Gene – superstar in every way – made it all worth it.

As I drifted away to sleep on the couch in my bedroom, the phone rang again for the third time, with half-open eyes, I looked at the wall clock, it was 12:23 a.m.

I had come home some 30 minutes before, after picking the last piece of dress for the shoot in the morning and was hoping to catch six hours of sleep before waking up to go to Civic Centre for the shoot on a boat.

I managed to reach for the phone. “Errr…” My heart sank,, I knew what type of call this was. You know, it’s the call that comes a few hours before the shoot or interview, the one from the artiste manager with an uncertain voice and a hint of apology. I should be used to it, but it still jolts me each time.

“We can’t do the shoot anymore,” she says, “Genny has to travel to the UK urgently.”

And this was the 6th week – as we tried to get the incredibly busy Genevieve Nnaji to be the cover girl for the edition that would capture the dreams of many young Nigerians who desperately need to believe, for real, that anything is possible in a country where dreams die almost by the minute.

And while she was ready to go on day one, her question had been simple – “How do we find the time to do this?” Well, at least she warned me.

I reached an agreement with her management. We would cut down the scale of our vision for the shoot and we would capture the essence of this made-in-Nigeria brand in the simplest way possible, armed of course with the magnificent talent of Kelechi Amadi-Obi and MakeMe’s Ugo.

That was before the three weeks of maddening silence.

Then we get the call: “Genny is ready.”

Of course, Gene – superstar in every way – made it all worth it. And it is always a pleasure to work with true professionals – which was the team that we had, including her management, the stylist, the make-up artiste, and the photographer. And what fun! 

I was grateful that we had managed to do this. No more dread of phone calls, no more tear-your-hair out silence… well, until the next A-lister, 2face…

The madness continues …

 

DebolaLAGOS